Bricks flew across the roof as the green light struck the Burrow. Ron immediately cast a protective charm around Hermione and Hattie as some bricks spun towards them as fast as a rocket. The initial cheers of joys were now screams of fear from the children and panicked cries from the adults trying to fight back. As they landed on the ground, the orange lights sky transformed crimson robed figures with gold masks.
One of those figures appeared before Lily and Hazel. Just as the the figure raised his wand to attack the girls, Albus managed to stun the figure.
"Albus, Lily, you're in charge of the twins and Hazel!" cried Harry.
"C'mon, Al!" said Lily, as she picked up Hazel. Albus and Lily shuffled their younger siblings inside as their parents and James joined the fight. Hannah directing her children and the Scamander twins inside while Neville and Luna joined the fray. Most of the adults had joined the battle with Molly and Arthur shielding those seeking cover. Hermione tried to move quickly, however being pregnant, carrying a toddler, and running was not an easy task for her.
"Protego!" cried Hugo as he shielded Hermione and Hattie from a wayward spell. Arthur left Molly to handle the door as he escorted Hermione inside. Once everyone was inside, Molly shut the door and dimmed the lights.
With the exception of Evie, all of the Longbottom children were crying as they huddled close to their mother. Meanwhile, Albus and Lily tried to calm down Hazel, who was screaming for her parents and the Potter twins stood next to their grandfather frozen with fear. Even the Scamander twins looked somewhat rattled by the events that just happened as they fidgeted on the bottom steps of the stairs.
"Bloody hell, who are those creeps?" asked Hugo standing near the door.
"Did you see what they were wearing?" asked Lily.
"Is everyone here?" asked Hermione soothing a distraught Hattie.
"I think so," said Albus.
"Mum," said Evie with her face white as a sheet. "Where's Iris?"
Albus and Lily's faces dropped when they realized that they could not see their sister. Before Molly and Arthur could stop him, Albus had sprinted out of the Burrow to look for her. When Albus appeared outside, he saw Scorpius and Rose throwing spells at one of the crimson masked-figures, who disappeared before Albus could cast a spell to assist them.
"What it is, Al?" asked Rose noticing Al's worried face.
"Iris is missing!" said Albus. "She's not inside!"
"Let's check the marsh," said Scorpius, grabbing Al's arm. "She might be hiding out there!"
The three of them moved as quickly as they could into the marsh as they tried to avoid falling on the icy and hard ground. They started calling for Iris among the sounds of spells and screams from the Burrow.
"I can't see her!" said Rose.
"IRIS!" cried Al, his voice getting frantic.
"Split up!" cried Scorpius, heading towards the left as Albus headed towards the right. Rose continued to call out in the middle, casting a light charm to see where she was going. Just then, Rose heard some faint whimpering coming from a bush and darted towards the sound. Rose rustled through the bushes with one hand as she held her illuminated wand in the other. The light from her wand was casted upon the face of Iris, who looked stunned and scared at the same time as she embraced Rose.
"It's alright," said Rose. "Let's go back - "
Both Al and Scorpius heard Rose's screams and immediately headed towards the sound. As they approached the scene, they could see Rose shielding Iris behind her back and countering spells from the masked figure who must have followed them.
"A little help here!" cried Rose.
"STUPEFY!" cried Scorpius, aiming at the figure, who fell back upon being hit. When the figure realized they was outnumbered, even by teenagers, they disappeared into the sky.
"Look!" said Scorpius, pointing to the sky. One at a time the figures were disappearing from the Burrow. The three of them headed back to the Burrow with Al carrying Iris on his back as her legs were stiff from hiding in the bush and being on the cold ground. When they had returned, none of the masked figures remained anywhere near the house or yard.
Once Albus placed Iris on the ground, Harry picked up Iris for a huge embrace while Ginny stroked Iris' hair to reassure her that everything was fine.
"Get him inside!" cried George. Al looked and gasped at George and Rory carried a wounded James into the house. Ginny sprinted behind George while the rest followed. Upon seeing her grandson, Molly cleared the sofa for James. Poor James had a serious wound on his left side of the head that nearly covered his left eye.
"George, what happened?" cried Ginny kneeling beside her son as he groaned with pain.
"One of those masked freaks tried cast an Incarcerous spell," said George. "James blocked it but it was too late and the chain ricocheted off his temple."
Al slowly approached his brother who was wincing in pain from the wound. Al realized at that moment that all the little spats he had had with his brother over the years no longer matter. The wound could have been worse and James could have been lost forever.
"Hey," said Al, softly to James. "At least you got that scar you always wanted."
"The birds love scars," chortled James, smiling faintly at Al.
"It's a proper one, too," said Al relieved that his brother was truly okay.
"Innit?" said James as both boys laughed.
Ron was the last to come back to the Burrow, looking disheveled from his fight. Rose was the first to spot him outside the house and ran towards him, with the rest of the Weasley-Grangers in tow.
"Everyone's okay," said Ron sighing in relief. "Thank Merlin."
"Other than Jay, everyone's fine," said Hermione.
"Where's 'Spius?" asked Hattie.
The four of them turned to look at Scorpius who stared upward at the sky in the direction where the attackers came from. The knots in Scorpius' stomach had not settled. He knew that he was a target. Furthermore, the family would be under attack as long as he stayed there. Scorpius wanted to take his wand and fling spells from it out of anger for allowing this exceptionally forgiving and kind family be in harm's way all for his safety. Frankly, at this point, Scorpius didn't believe he deserved it. After all, he was the prime target in many of these attacks, as he was the son of Draco Malfoy and the grandson of Death Eater Lucius Malfoy.
"Scorpius, what's the matter, dear?" said Hermione putting her hands on his shoulder.
"They did this because of me," said Scorpius.
"No, dear," said Hermione, leading Scorpius back to the Burrow. "None of this is your fault."
"Feels like it," said Scorpius. "You've been so kind, Mrs. Granger, your family shouldn't have to deal with this."
"This isn't the first time the Weasleys have helped someone who wasn't well liked," said Hermione, pointing towards Harry, now sitting on the steps with Lily and Iris on either side plus Hazel on his lap.
"But I'm not Harry Potter," argued Scorpius. "I'm Scorpius Malfoy."
Hermione smiled gently as he put her hands on Scorpius' shoulders.
"Your life is worth saving," said Hermione. "You matter, and don't ever forget that."
"Thank you, Mrs. Granger," said Scorpius, wanting to hug her like she was his own mother. Luckily for him, Hermione already had the same thought and pulled him in for a warm embrace.